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App May Prevent You from Getting the Coronavirus

Posted February 28, 2020 12:00 PM by M-ReeD
Pathfinder Tags: app Coronavirus

At first, I was intrigued by the headline: China Launches “Close Contact Detector” App. A promise, perhaps, to keep those who get too close from breaking some imaginary, yet very discernible personal space boundary during day-to-day interactions. If you’ve ever felt the hot breath of a stranger reach the back of your neck while innocently standing in line at Target, you'll understand why an app like this would be appealing.

Alas, this is not what the app is for.

Instead, researchers from China are enabling its citizens to track their movements in relation to others infected, or suspected of being infected, with the coronavirus.

Using the wealth of data China already collects about its citizens who are tracked via a national identification number and other methods, the app draws from data about a user’s movements, for instance from records about public transportation usage, to determine if a user has either traveled with, worked alongside, or even lived with someone demonstrating symptoms of the coronavirus.

To access this information, users are required to register their phones and input their names and national IDs to reveal their historical movements and measure those movements against the movements of those infected with the virus.

While the app will likely have significant implications for reducing coronavirus exposure, I’ll be waiting patiently right here for someone to develop the app that triggers an alarm whenever someone gets too close.

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#1

Re: App May Prevent You from Getting the Coronavirus

02/28/2020 1:32 PM

Not a problem...

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#6
In reply to #1

Re: App May Prevent You from Getting the Coronavirus

02/29/2020 8:23 AM

That isn't very stylish, how about this?

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#2

Re: App May Prevent You from Getting the Coronavirus

02/28/2020 3:48 PM

I’ve heard that a police station is concerned about the quality of meth, thinking it may contain trace amounts of the coronavirus. They are offering a free test of your meth for the virus, all you have to do is bring in a sample of your meth and they’ll test it for free.

I guess there’s a lot of talk about that; I wonder how many arrests they’ve made.

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#3

Re: App May Prevent You from Getting the Coronavirus

02/28/2020 3:58 PM

National ID tracker.

Hmm...

George Orwell is cackling away in his grave saying, "see?? I told you..."

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#8
In reply to #3

Re: App May Prevent You from Getting the Coronavirus

03/02/2020 12:43 PM

That it is China, not England, does not make it any less Orwellian.

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#4

Re: App May Prevent You from Getting the Coronavirus

02/29/2020 3:31 AM

Maybe it will work as well as the vote-counting app at the Ohio caucus.

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#5
In reply to #4

Re: App May Prevent You from Getting the Coronavirus

02/29/2020 7:07 AM

You mean the democratic Iowa Caucus app

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#7

Re: App May Prevent You from Getting the Coronavirus

02/29/2020 9:13 PM

Seems that their AI Facial recognition systems and their extensive CCTV systems that they should be doing it already.

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#9
In reply to #7

Re: App May Prevent You from Getting the Coronavirus

03/02/2020 8:34 PM

They are tracking about everybody, but it's not perfect. Jaywalking is a serious crime in China, and a famous businesswoman was publicly shamed for the crime. It turns out, her picture was on the side of a bus and the camera picked it up...

https://www.theverge.com/2018/11/22/18107885/china-facial-recognition-mistaken-jaywalker

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#10

Re: App May Prevent You from Getting the Coronavirus

03/02/2020 9:31 PM

I've found this site has very up to date statistics. (Scroll down for the breakdown by country).

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#11
In reply to #10

Re: App May Prevent You from Getting the Coronavirus

03/04/2020 12:04 PM

This site has a better breakdown.

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#12
In reply to #11

Re: App May Prevent You from Getting the Coronavirus

03/04/2020 12:19 PM

Not bad, but it doesn't show the % of those who died vs. those who recovered. ("Closed Cases"). Early last week it was at 11%, as of today it hit 6%. I consider this an important metric.

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